By Nurul Islam Laskar, MM News,
GUWAHATI, MAY 20: Four days from now, over 50,000 students across the eastern region of India would be appearing in the Ajmal National Talent Search Examination (ANTSE) 2014 and a good performance in it could open doors before them that might change their life in ways beyond imagination.
The ANTSE had assumed significance as a popular talent search examination in the North East India to start with and now its reach is spreading beyond the region while the aim is to cover all of India one day. The aim of ANTSE is to identify the extraordinarily brilliant students and to encourage them through cash awards and other incentives to further improve and hone their talents. Conducted by the Ajmal Foundation, a Hojai based registered public charitable trust whose allied activities for the cause of education include award of scholarship to meritorious students, financial assistance to the educational institutions and poor students, organising coaching classes for competitive examinations, health care, relief and rehabilitation, environmental promotion etc. ANTS Examination envisages to motivate students towards inculcating a competitive spirit.
Since its inception in 2002, over two lakh students had appeared in ANTSE till 2013 of which near about 30,000 won awards and other incentives for their excellent performance in the same.
This year’s examination will be conducted in as many as 625 centres spread over Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and West Bengal. While the exams in smaller centres would be supervised by one coordinator, there could be as many as three coordinators at bigger centres. Teams have already started movement from Ajmal Foundation’s headquarters in Hojai to all these distant destinations carrying the question papers and other materials required for conducting this massive exercise which continues to become more popular as the years pass by.
ANTSE is a diagnostic test that purports to test how well a child has understood the fundamentals of the subjects taught in classes. Thus, it helps parents and teachers to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the child in the basics. The preparation for ANTSE stimulates the thought process and helps the student to face new challenges. The preparation for ANTSE not only helps the students to test his mastery over his subjects taught in the class but also encourages him to acquire information and knowledge about the world around him.
In addition, ANTSE awakens the students to the need of gleaning facts and information which in itself is an enjoyable pursuit and which also equips him to face the challenges of modern day entrance tests and competitive examinations. Following the suggestions of a cross section of intellectuals, advisers, and well-wishers and considering the need for a proper orientation of the students pursuing study at the degree level towards competitive examinations, a new class for degree students has been added. Another change brought forward is a single class examination for Class XI and Class XII at the Higher Secondary level instead of two separate examinations for the above two classes.
Saher Ali, Assistant Controller of ANTSE, said, “This examination is a massive affair and entails a lot of preparation, both strategy and logistics. Right now, we are preparing for holding the exam, and as soon as the exam would be over, our teams would be collecting the answer scripts and returning to the HQ. Then there is evaluation, awards etc. This means, by the time one exam gets over, we are already in preparation for the next.” Keeping in mind the ever increasing number of centres and candidates, this indeed is a stupendous task.
“ANTSE is not an end in itself,” said Khasrul Islam, Manager, Ajmal Foundation. He informed that for those graduation level students, who do well in ANTSE, a screening test is conducted in Guwahati and shortlisted few are sponsored for IAS coaching in New Delhi in collaboration with Hamdard Foundation. Quite a few such sponsored students have successfully cleared the IAS exam.
It may be mentioned that while Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal MP is the chief patron of ANTSE, his brother Sirajuddin Ajmal is the executive patron of the same.
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